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Home , Antoniazzo Romano, Arezzo, Domenico Veneziano, Federico da Montefeltro, Fra Carnevale, Pisanello

Exhibition Itinerary

Although began travelling at an early age and spent great part of his life working at the most important Courts in Central and Adriatic , he never definitely bound himself to any Lord and always remained closely attached to his native town, so much so that he signed his works as “Pietro from Borgo”, as if to proudly underline his origins. The first section of the Exhibition is called, precisely,Petrus de Burgo: Piero’s distinctive traits and his poetics, as well as his love for his land, can immediately be seen in the exhibited Virgin and Child - Piero’s first work - exceptionally found in a private collection after more than 50 years -, in the Treaty of Abaco (circa 1460), and in Saint Jerome with Jerome Amadi, lent by the Academy Galleries of , dating back to the late 1440s. After many years of untraceability, the fascinating small of the Virgin (part of the Contini collection) is thus displayed at the Exhibition; according to both Longhi and Salmi, the ancona was one of the first works by Piero - thus, on the basis of information on Piero’s birth, it may date back to well before his collaboration with Domenico MINISTERO PER I BENI Veneziano or, nonetheless, to when it first started; thanks to its undeniably new elements, it allows us to further E LE ATTIVITÀ CULTURALI understand one of the main issues raised by the Exhibition, namely Piero’s role in the formation of ’s culture DIREZIONE REGIONALE PER I BENI and the breadth of his knowledge acquired in before going to Ferrara. CULTURALI E PAESAGGISTICI DELLA TOSCANA The Abaco, whose two hand-written versions are on exhibition (the version of the Medicea Laurenziana Library

SOPRINTENDENZA PER I BENI and the signed version of the National Central Library of Florence), strikingly recall Piero’s theoretical interests, ARCHITETTONICI, PER IL PAESAGGIO which he pursued throughout his life, alongside painting. E PER IL PATRIMONIO STORICO, ARTISTICO ED ETNOANTROPOLOGICO The Abaco is a maths manual, an indispensable tool for accounting purposes, yet it also contains algebra problems DELLA PROVINCIA DI and a section on geometric solids, a basis for the following Treaty. Piero’s interest in geometry and maths REGIONE TOSCANA dated back to his youth and training, when he was urged to study what was most useful for a merchant’s son. PROVINCIA DI AREZZO It was precisely to a merchant in that Piero dedicated such first text.

COMUNE DI AREZZO Piero’s speculative activity did not end with the Abaco; rather, his search for scientific rules governing reality DI and thus the internal structure of paintings, the need for harmony, the study of proportions, the application COMUNE DI SANSEPOLCRO of mathematical laws to art works, were an integral part of Piero’s artistic research. COMUNITÀ MONTANA VALTIBERINA TOSCANA The view of San Sepolcro dominating the landscape in the painting of Saint Jerome – in Venice at least since the early 19th century (part of the Renier collection) – clearly demonstrates both how Piero’s works always brought CAMERA DI COMMERCIO, INDUSTRIA ARTIGIANATO E AGRICOLTURA DI AREZZO to life the colours and lands of his origin, and how he was profoundly affected by Flemish painting. The devout

BANCA figure clothed in a red garment (nearly dominating that of the saint facing him) is, quite likely, the same praying figure represented under the cloak inOur Lady of Mercy in Sansepolcro – and “is what most resembles Flemish TOSCANA PROMOZIONE AGENZIA PER IL TURISMO DI AREZZO models”; as in no other painting did Piero create a complex interplay of lights, which was in itself a further reference to the Flemish world. As said by Paolucci, this is precisely the “sweet diffused luminosity” of Piero’s “Baptism”, now kept in London. In 1438, Piero left his land for the first time and set off for , where he worked with at the Baglioni’s Palace, the leading family of the time. Piero had little to learn from Perugia. Even Domenico di Bartolo, the painter from Siena who had made in 1433 a small and innovative work (Our Lady of Humility – on exhibition), eventually had to give in to the traditional Gothic style during his stay in Perugia five years later. Rather, what was fundamental for Piero while staying in Perugia was his collaboration with Domenico Veneziano, his teacher for some time. They shared many interests and both experimented the new science of perspective, forsaking the dark Gothic world for brighter and sunnier colours. Moreover, Domenico’s cultural background was completely new to Piero. As a youngster, Domenico had been a pupil of and had grown accustomed to the sophisticated culture of Northern Italian Courts, which Piero would later work for. A large segment of Domenico’s of a Famous Man (from the of ), and another important fresco depicting Saint Francis and Saint John the Baptist (from Santa Croce Museum of Florence), are both displayed at the Exhibition. The following year, i.e. in 1439, both painters were commissioned to fresco the Church of Sant’ Egidio, annexed to the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence. Though the frescoes were lost, the Exhibition displays a fragment of the sinopite. In the cosmopolitan environment of the late 1430s Florence, the heart of the , Piero’s figurative ORGANIZZAZIONE GENERALE VILLAGGIO GLOBALE INTERNATIONAL training underwent a fundamental change. As written by Carlo Bertelli, “We do not need to be very imaginative to picture what Piero saw and whom he met. Romano” by , and had appreciated the painter’s innovative representation of fallen soldiers and broken The masterpieces by Brunelleschi, and Masaccio’s generation were all there to be seen, and Ghiberti, spears. Yet, by clothing soldiers in Roman garments (being influenced as he was by the learned environment Angelico, , just to mention a few, were all engaged in new works.” of the Estensi’s Court), Piero’s fallen soldiers were not mechanical toys, as Paolo Uccello’s cataphracts lying Besides, the Oecumenical Council was being held in such a powerful town, a circumstance which allowed Piero on the ground, but rather bleeding and suffering men. Nor was he so reckless as the Florentine painter when to meet the humanists of Pope Eugene IV’s Court (the Pope himself was a humanist and an art patron) and representing horses (Uccello had probably used jointed three-dimensional models). to admire the Byzantine Emperor and his suit. In Ferrara, Piero drew inspiration both from Flemish tapestries and frescoes with battle scenes, which were quite The Byzantine Court stroke deep in Piero’s memory, being the concrete and lively expression of the glories common in patrician villas in Northern Italy, and from Pisanello – present at the Estensi’s Court – who had already of the Roman Empire. Pisanello, presumably in Florence or the year before in Ferrara, made some drawings dealt with the battle theme in Palazzo Ducale in Venice and ; it is precisely from Mantua that two important of the Emperor’s and his officers’ clothes, to be turned into amedal : said latter work, on exhibition, comes from segments of Uccello’s frescoes come from and are displayed at the Exhibition: a frieze with the S sign and one with Paris, and allows visitors to capture the images which Piero possibly retained from said event. Piero would later the figure of a woman . Both in Mantua and in Ferrara, the battle is frayed into a multitude of duels and develops recall the Greek Court in the Scourging, one of his frescoes in Arezzo, in which he unusually painted the same into a bitter fight. In the canvas from Baltimore, we may even notice a foreshortened legless figure which seems headgear both for the triumphant Emperor Constantine and for his enemy Maxentius, as revealed by the exhibited to recall the one seen among the fallen soldiers in the frescoes from Mantua. copies (coming from Darmstadt) of the frescoes, which were damaged by an earthquake. Moreover, it was thanks to Lionello and to the lively humanist environment at the Estensi’s Court that Piero came In 1446-1447, Piero was in Ferrara at Lionello d’Este’s Court. first in touch with the ancient world, which prompted him to study ancient monuments in and paint the battle Ferrara was quite a different world from Florence. In Florence, the Renaissance was part of the public world, scenes in Arezzo. especially thanks to the building of its spectacular Dome, to the associations’ patronage, and to the presence In Ferrara, Piero developed a number of distinctive traits typical of his art: the study of narrative options in the light of progressive artists, also within religious orders, such as Beato Angelico (Dominicans) and of the most rigorous perspective rules; the relationship between giant-like figures and the surrounding landscape; (Carmelites) – the Exhibition displays the latter’s famous Our Lady of Humility among angels and saints, known his first approach to oil painting, which would lead to the sublime Augustinian’sPolyptych and the Virgin Mary as Our Lady Trivulzio. of ; the discovery of an innate world not to be disclosed to others; and his early contact with the ancient Quite differently, in the North the Renaissance needed to be supported by local Courts. Lionello’s humanist Court world. By looking at Piero’s works, from the battle scenes – now lost though imagined thanks to their copies – was a particularly active centre in this respect. In his villa in Belfiore, Lionello planned a room where he could rest to his early affirmation in theBaptism, we can perceive his professional growth at the Estensi’s Court in his close among the most valuable items of his collection. The walls of his “Studiolo”, his small study, were to be covered with attention to Pisanello’s traditional painting (prompted by his friendship with Domenico Veneziano), in his search Muses painted by artists from Ferrara and Siena. Piero did not contribute to such plan, though the unknown painter for the autonomy of painting, based on perspective and proportional foundations, and in his reference to literary of “Urania Muse”, clearly drew inspiration therefrom. sources in a filtered, re-elaborated and mysteriously remote way. Piero’s impact on Ferrara’s painters was deep and long-lasting. While in Ferrara, Piero also met the great wood inlayer Cristoforo Canozi da Lendinara, who was engaged in 1449 Suffice it to observe the frescoes left in ’s Ovetari Chapel to see how Bono da Ferrara was profoundly affected in decorating Lionello’s studio in Palazzo Belfiore: the Exhibition displays many works by said artist, including by Piero’s painting, as confirmed by the former’s works on exhibition - the splendidVirgin and Child, from Budapest, the suggestive painting with Saint Ambrose, inserted into a 18th century desk (coming from the Dome of ). and Saint John the Evangelist, from a private collection in Rome. Inlaid works, creating illusionist effects by resorting to perspective, further contributed to the development Ferrara represented a great challenge for Piero too. of Piero’s style and to his ability to profoundly influence the artistic world of the time. In those years, Piero also At the time, the inspiring figure of Ferrara’s Court was the humanist Guarino Guarini, whose image in amedal went to Loreto to work with Domenico Veneziano on a painting in the Basilica, which was under the Pope’s direct by Matteo Pasti is displayed at the Exhibition. Guarini believed that a good portrait needed to include as many administration. Domenico and Piero then went separate ways, though Piero would later return to the Region details as those potentially described by a good writer; Piero believed the contrary. Painting, as he would later say, for further works. was nothing but “drawing, proportion, colour”. However, Piero was led to focus on the exclusive problems A recently-found document proves that Piero was in Ancona in 1450, engaged in painting a chapel for the important of painting, or rather of shapes, probably as a result of his visual experiences at the Estensi’s Court. Ferretti family. This confirms Piero’s extensive work in the Region, whose impact can be traced in painters According to Ciriaco d’Ancona (whose Commentary is on exhibition), Lionello d’Este’s linen room held a “Nativity” coming from outside and working for the da Varano’s Court. As evidence of Piero’s influence on regional by Rogier van der Weyden. Although the work was later lost, it introduced Piero to the otherwise unthinkable painters, the Exhibition displays Our Lady of Mercy, Saints Venanzio and Sebastian (coming from Camerino) qualities of oil painting, to its brightness and transparency, to its capacity of giving light to details. As argued by the gifted Girolamo di Giovanni (who would later work in Padua in the Ovetari Chapel), a work which clearly by Bertelli, “The comparison between Magdalene’s hair in the exhibited Lamentation over the dead Christ by Rogier reminds us of Piero’s Polyptych of Mercy. It was precisely in Camerino that Giuliano Amadei, more of a miniaturist van der Weyden and the hair of the young woman at the feet of the Lady of Mercy in Piero’s Polyptych in than a painter - who had previously realized, upon Piero’s drawing, the foot-pace and the counterforts of the Sansepolcro clearly shows what was at stake. In van der Weyden’s work, Magdalene’s hair is naturally bright, Polyptych of Mercy in Sansepolcro - became prior of Saint George’s Convent in 1467. curly and tainted by bronze reflections, while in Piero’s work – and also in his later paintings – the locks are thick Piero’s impact on regional painting can also be found in ’s works, who was one of Piero’s pupils. and unnatural, as if moulded like clay, rather than being painted”. Even though Vasari claimed that Domenico Signorelli, who also worked in Marche, precisely in Loreto and Fabriano, painted the extraordinary Presentation Veneziano had already used oil as a binder for his fresco in Sant’ Egidio, the potential of oil painting, as used of Jesus to the Temple, displayed at the Exhibition (coming from New York). by the Flemish, was quite different, being indeed an authentic expressive means. The Exhibition’s section on Piero’s influence on painting in Modena and Ferrara also displaysThe pepper-crusher, The Exhibition’s section on Ferrara is also devoted to the fascinating theme of the battle. a large portion of the frescoes in the Feo Chapel in San Biagio (Forlì), destroyed during the First World War, Being fond of chivalry literature and classics, Lionello asked Piero to paint two frescoes in the Estense Palace – and painted by Melozzo da Forlì. The latter, together with Signorelli, decorated the Santa Casa in Loreto in 1480, later destroyed – representing two battles, or two episodes of the battle between Scipio and Hannibal. What is now and presumably stayed also in Urbino, and thus was influenced by Piero. left are two partial copies of said frescoes, made by painters in Ferrara (circa 1520): one is kept in London and According to Vasari, Piero also worked in , and then again in Ancona, in San Ciriaco, where he painted the other in Baltimore – the latter has been exceptionally lent to the Exhibition in Arezzo. a beautiful story, the Wedding of Our Lady, on Saint Joseph’s altar. Quite likely, Piero had already observed in 1439 (when he was in Florence) the two paintings of the “Battle of Saint No trace is left of Piero’s works in Pesaro and Ancona, though it is precisely thanks to such works that Venetian painters discovered his “sweet and new” style (Vasari’s definition, as recalled by Longhi), and especially by Emanuela Daffra – seems to have been made “with the Braidense Virgin’s solemn eyes in mind”. We may “the foundation of perspective” which Boschini traced also in Giovanni Bellini’s works (the latter’s splendid painting also note potential references to Flemish models in the light structure of Piero’s painting in Brera: after all, Piero – Saint Justine of Borromei (Bagatti Valsecchi collection) - is on exhibition). himself was not indifferent to Spanish-Flemish painting, imported into Italy thanks to the presence in Urbino The Exhibition’s section on Sigismondo Malatesta is centred around Piero’s extraordinary portrait of the Lord of the Flemish Giusto of Gand and of the Spanish Pedro Berruguete, whose Dead Christ between two angels (1470), of (the town where Piero stayed in 1451), lent by the (Paris); in making said masterpiece, Piero lent by the Gallery in , is displayed at the Exhibition. was clearly affected both by Pisanello’s portraits of the Este family and by Flemish painting: suffice it to look As written by Paolucci “In Urbino, the painter from Borgo must have found the pleasure of debate, the flair at the black background, the embroideries of the Lord’s clothes, and the extraordinary naturalness conveyed for experimentation and exchange, the intellectual fervour which develops from the knowledge of being part through the use of light, creating subtle reflections in the Lord’s brown hair. In Rimini, Piero also met Leon Battista of a great season of the spirit”. Alberti, the greatest 15th century theorist of architecture, who was entrusted by Malatesta with the project The drawing for the portrait of Federico, used for the altar-piece in San Bernardino Church, was once again used of a great mausoleum - the Malatestian Temple –for himself and his descendants, where Piero painted a beautiful by Piero for the Diptych of the Dukes of Urbino, a posthumous homage by to the Duke to his wife, Battista Sforza, fresco (now removed). The Exhibition displays a number of by Pisanello and Matteo de Pasti, who directed who had died in 1472. With extreme freedom, Piero painted the Duke’s expression in the shadow, projecting light the works, and a stone with a Banner-holding angel by Agostino di Duccio – who realized most on his back. The anxious and tanned face of the Duke contrasts with the Duchess’s still face. of the building reliefs – as “mementos” of such an important commission. As written by Carlo Bertelli, “The latter is expressionless, and would look like marble if only her skin were Piero often met and compared his work with Alberti – he also met him in Florence, Rome and possibly Urbino; many not whitened by the moonlight. She appears to have no worries, as if coming from another world, impassive of the great architect and theorist’s ideas on painting affected Piero’s stylistic evolution. and mysterious. The far-away landscape, with the morning mist rising over the valleys and the boats navigating In 1455, Piero stayed in Rome and worked in the Vatican under Nicholas V, and then again between 1458 and 1459 on calm waters, gives a very ordinary picture, silencing the couple’s appearance, lost in each other’s abstract under Pius II. He also possibly worked under Callistus III (1455-1458). contemplation. Personal feelings are mingled with an idealized concept of authority. On the back, two carts are The early Christian Basilicas, whose bright Christian classicism had previously influenced Angelico, about to meet. In spite of the stillness of the other sides of the panels, the monumental and enormous inscriptions, and Fouquet, were also admired by Piero, who found in the Lateranense Baptistery, in the apse of Sant’Agnese, similar to tomb epitaphs, prompt us to contemplate eternity and transitional glory. The glory of the victorious and in the Basilica of Giunio Basso the same kind of walls, covered in bright mirrors and marble inlaid works, which general is compared with the virtuous lady’s encomium, who will be admired by men forever”. had enthralled him in Rimini in 1450. The Constantine Arch celebrated events which were directly related to his After such an impassive celebration, Piero’s style took a different turn. In his Virgin Mary of Senigallia, which engagement in San Francesco in Arezzo, which he had undertaken in 1452. His profound understanding of ancient he probably painted upon Federico da Montefeltro’s request for his daughter’s wedding to Giovanni , values led him to ignore the Battle on Bridge Milvio of the Constantine era, and to focus on the great fragments Piero pondered on Mediterranean monumentality and Northern family life, using perspective and colours of Traiano, which he drew inspiration from, as he did with the horses of the Quirinale - still bearing ancient Greek in a sophisticated manner. A small triangle under the Virgin’ elbow allows viewers to perceive the distance between traits in their late Roman re-elaboration. Piero learnt of the cruelty of ancient Roman battles from the Traiana foreground and background, rendering the space both splendid and simple. Column and from carved sarcophagi. In Urbino, Piero continued to carry out his theoretical and speculative activities, dedicating his De Prospectiva In Rome, Piero also worked in the Pope’s ancient Basilica of . In 1455, the works at the Basilica pingendi to the Duke of Montefeltro, of which its two hand-written versions are here exhibited. were directed by Francesco del Borgo, a fellow countryman of Piero, an expert in maths, a bibliophile and possibly Piero was never salaried by any Court. He never got married and his activity was carried out as part of the an architect, a man of great influence and reputation in the curia, who probably contributed to Piero’s engagement administration of a rich family. in Rome. In his monograph of 1927, Roberto Longhi attributed to Piero the frescoes left in the vault, remarking He also worked for confraternities, small village churches and for his town’s municipality. He was usual late “the revealed beauty of the initial sketch, which the painter, for once, seems to have directly drawn on plaster”. In completing his works, though his patrons were generally understanding, allowing him to strike a balance Nowadays, especially after the 1981 restoration, any doubts about Longhi’s claims have been dispelled. between tradition and innovation, intellectual engagement and popular traits. Already blind, he died at the age The Vatican frescoes certainly left a mark on Roman painters, first of all on Lorenzo da Viterbo – whose beautiful of 80. Yet, as late as 1492, when he was probably 70, he was still engaged in buying a house in Rimini, with a fruit Virgin and Child between Saint Michael and Saint Peter (from Palazzo Barberini) is exhibited – who presumably orchard and a well. painted the Chapel’s vault in Santa Maria Maggiore; and on Antoniazzo Romano, whose Portrait of Prelate (circa 1460) - from a private collection, and thus here exhibited for the first time - may be compared with Piero’sPortrait of Sigismondo Malatesta (from the Louvre). In Rome, Piero copied and illustrated the Latin translation of Archimedes’ Treaty on the spiral (on exhibition), an index of his knowledge of Latin and of his plan to write an entire treaty on perspective in painting, which he would later give a copy of to the Ducal Library of Urbino. Piero’s first documented visit to Urbino – one of the most important Renaissance capitals of the time– dates back to 1469. He was lodged by , who would later become ’s father. He was initially invited to paint an enormous altar-piece for a confraternity. Though he eventually did not realize the work, he nonetheless met Count Federico da Montefeltro – though, quite likely, he had already met him at Lionello’s Court in Ferrara – and his wife Battista Sforza. In truth, Piero might already have stayed in the mid-1460s in Urbino, whose image was becoming increasingly modern under ’s direction – recalled at the Exhibition through two significant paintings. It is precisely during those years that Piero presumably painted for Federico a magnificent altar piece, now at the Gallery of Brera in Milan (not applied for since it is deemed unmovable). Said earlier dating would appear to be confirmed by the date (1466) written under the Virgin and Child by Giovanni Boccati, in Seppio di Pioraco, which – as pointed out